Did not say government will fall: Yeddyurappa

KALABURAGI: State BJP president BS Yeddyurappa backtracked on his comments that there would be a “positive atmosphere” for his party to form the government after the Lok Sabha election results are announced on May 23, insisting that he never said the coalition government will fall or that he would become chief minister.
Yeddyurappa, on Sunday, said as many as 20 Congress MLAs were ready to switch to the BJP and that the party would also win the bypolls in Kundgol and Chincholi assembly seats. However, barely 24 hours later, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Hubballi: “All I said was anything can happen to the coalition government, given the internal tussle between coalition partners Congress and JD(S).”
Reiterating that the coalition partners will not cross the double-digit mark in the Lok Sabha elections, Yeddyurappa said coalition candidates would bite the dust in Mandya, Tumakuru, Kolar and even Kalaburagi where Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, is contesting.
Referring to JD(S) state president AH Vishwanath's outburst against former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Yeddyurappa claimed it was Kumaraswamy who is fuelling the spat. “Vishwanath is only expressing Kumaraswamy's feelings about Siddaramaiah,” he said.
Later, at an election rally in Chincholi, Yeddyurappa said he will not allow the next legislative session to run if the government does not completely waive farm loans as promised. “Kumaraswamy has betrayed farmers by falsely promising to waive their loans. It's been one year now and not many farmers have benefited from the scheme," he said.